3 year old son’s severe eczema

[Cazzie1979]

My son (age 3) has suffered from eczema since he was born and it’s recently been getting worse. It’s mainly on the backs of his legs (in the creases of his knees) but also in creases of his elbows. We’ve had steroid creams and emollients prescribed but nothing seems to work so I asked to be referred. 7 weeks since the referral to the dermatology dept at the hospital and not even had a letter acknowledging we’re on the waiting list let alone an appointment. In the meantime the redness is getting more and more sore, often bleeding. I’ve looked into private consultations and but they are costing £250 which we can’t afford. Does anyone have any miracle creams that you’ve found worked on severe eczema or other skin conditions? Getting desperate now the weather is getting hotter and sweat is irritating the skin more.

child’s farm baby moisturiser is a miracle worker on eczema, allergy rash and cradle cap. It’s on offer at minute in Asda 2 child’s farm products for £5

Childs farm was the only thing that worked for us. It's the only thing we use, from the bubble bath tk the hair and body wash. I try to use the moisturiser twice a day but sometimes I forget in the morning and if I'm not on top of it bits start appearing again.

The creams the gp gave were rubbish. Sometimes did need a steroid cream to clear it up.

There's another that I heard was gd but I can't remember the name but it's a small tube for £7/£8 in Holland & Barrett.

Sure u might already know this but non biological and no fabric conditioner that's supposed to help too.

Have you looked at his diet? Milk allergies, egg, wheat, etc. Allergies can trigger eczema.

Creams are a matter of trial and error but have a look at the eczema society if you haven’t. Try giving wet wrapping a go.

This might sound random but me and my families excema is much improved by getting out into direct sunlight. Just clears us up. Controversial as being out in the sun is not really recommended but it works for me.

Getting natural sunlight on your body is actually very, very important.

You may have already tried it but we had success with diprobase for my toddler. As a pp suggested though, worth looking at allergies if you haven't already. Both my dcs have CMPA and get eczema flair ups if any accidentally gets into their diet.

Moisturise in aveeno as many times a day as you possibly can. Bathe him less regularly, and use aveeno soap when you do. This is what worked for us!

Yes have found child's farm to be excellent too gor my own eczema. I use the regular one rather than the baby formula. Eczema is horrible and very worrying in young children especially in the heat. Hope it improves soon

Moo goo products were the only thing to help ds. They do moisturiser, shampoos, soaps etc. Not extortionate either and all natural ingredients.

moogooskincare.co.uk/?gclid=CjwKCAjw5s6WBhA4EiwACGncZfleotKrEoCluIHFJPdl7_x47KA0cDAmeXy49bGfT5YcWc2EryvzHRoC7igQAvD_BwE

I like Aveeno too but haven't tried moogoo or child's farm. Direct sunlight is so so important too.

Another vote for Aveeno - the original, not baby range. We also found strawberries and tomatoes to be a trigger and anything flavoured with them. We shower him twice a week rather than baths so the water doesn’t dry him out. It’s totally cleared up since no central hearing being used and wearing shorts every day!

We used Childs farm nappy cream on our Sons excema but as a few others have mentioned figuring out his allergies and what was triggering the excema. His was coconut as he has cmpa so was eating a lot of vegan yogurts/ cheese all containing coconut oil

Did they give you an approximate waiting time? It is unbelievable that your child has to wait so long for a simple appointment.

I've been through two DC with severe eczema, it's food. Get the right allergen removed (and it can be anything) and it'll calm down. It can also be pets/dust mites but I do not buy into eczema just appearing for the sake of it.

I've heard that Lush's Dream Cream is excellent

Nope no approx waiting time - I can’t even get through to the dermatology dept on the phone so I emailed the outpatient address and was told he was on the waiting list and to go back to the GP if it gets worse. Like they’ll prescribe anything but steroid or emollient again!

As pp has mentioned, I would look into allergies if you haven’t already. My son was being treated for ‘eczema’ for months with creams until we discovered his CMPA and egg allergies. Did an elimination diet (I was bf at the time) and it all cleared up once we identified the culprits. If allergies or intolerances have been ruled out I’d look at some good quality probiotics and fish oil/cod liver oil.

unfortunately direct sunlight made my son’s worse, I think it depends on the type of eczema/cause but definitely worth a try incase it does work for OP’s child.

Thanks everyone. Over the years we have used child’s farm, Aveeno, lush - but nothing has ever really resolved it. But maybe it’s worth trying them again and giving more of a chance.

I’d like to get him tested for allergies but I’m guessing that’s probably expensive to do too. He does love milk yoghurt and cheese so could be dairy. Worth cutting it out to see if it makes a difference

Start ruling out allergies me my ds and dh all suffer from it we all have different triggers mine is nuts and daz, sons is dairy and surf and dh is milk, the sun, and dust and daz and surf and washing up liquid, if me and da avoid our triggrrs we only get the odd flare up however dh is the worse in summer he basically can't leave the house for more then 15 mins or his skin flares cracks and bleeds we have all found aloe gel if brilliant but not if skin is split just helps control

Heyy OP, my baby had eczema. She was referred to dermatology and when I called to ask when her appointment would be likely in May, they’d said they were booking appointments for January referrals and she’d been referred in April. I called the GP couple of weeks ago and they agreed to expedite, we are being seen this week.

Atm, we use steroid cream on her face once a day and her body every two days (atm, it changes, we’ve been able to reduce it recently). We also use Hydromol bath and shower every day for a short lukewarm bath and hyrdromol emollient 4-5 time a day. It’s taken a lot of trial and error and much consistency and patience.

The Eczema Society is a great place to have a look as someone suggested above. Be very careful with so called wonder creams, they can do more harm than good long term.

*has eczema - we haven’t got rid of it!

They usually say allergy tests can be inaccurate for some types of allergies I think it was igE but best thing is to get referred to a specialist (or try private if you can, back in 2010 there weren’t any private allergy specialists dealing with kids but may have changed now) but in the meantime do an elimination diet taking out one food group at one time so you can see which it is (could be more than one) we eliminated dairy first as we could see a direct reaction so it really cleared it up but there was still some eczema remaining and then we removed egg and he became completely clear. If you can get tests try on the nhs first, they are usually finger prick and they found my son all had allergy to grass and dustmite but they didn’t seem to affect him in an obvious way like the foods did.

Aveeno, Epaderm, Sudocrem, Child's Farm.

Does his eczema look infected? You may need antibiotic or anti-fungal if it does.
Try to book another GP appointment if it's getting worse. Apart from anything else, they are the only ones who can expedite the derm referral.